


To Acceptance

by Sincere_Lies



Series: First Steps [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Acceptance, Coming Out, F/M, M/M, Pre-Slash, Suicidal Thoughts, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-19
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2018-01-02 00:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1050548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sincere_Lies/pseuds/Sincere_Lies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Piper thought that for a daughter of Aphrodite she really didn't have a clue about people’s love lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Acceptance

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a simple idea of how I envision Nico’s behavior to what became a fic about acceptance and that ended up becoming a series in my head. I’m horrible with commitment but I really hope to finish these, I don’t think they’ll be long so it shouldn't be hard. This can be read as just an oneshot anyway.
> 
> I wanted to be linear but couldn't help but jump from a pov to another so it will be HoO style. Oh, and I have a problem with sticking with a time tense, sorry about that. And for the amount of ‘…’

# Percy

 

If Percy was completely honest with himself, the fact that they won and were all alive was surprising. Not that he was complaining, far from it. But to look around and see all seven of them still there was remarkable.

It wasn't to say there were no losses. There were many, too many, on both greek and roman sides. A little ways from them he could see Reyna, Chiron and Nico talking; probably arranging the details for the memorials of tomorrow. It had been unsaid that today would be a cause for celebration; even the gods had descended from Olympus to be with their children at Camp Half-Blood. It caused an interesting reaction from the romans and an even more interest combination as they changed from one persona to another, smoothly now that the conflicts were over.

Percy however didn’t get to experience that with his own father, Neptune not having any roman children to speak to. It was a little disappointing; he kind of wanted to know how his father’s roman side was. Some of the gods had remarkable differences when changing counterparts, as Annabeth had told him before of her encounter with Minerva.

Annabeth who hadn't left his side ever since they found each other again after it was all over. Again, not that he was complaining but he thought she would want to revel a little at how proud her mother seemed to be of her. Athena and her children were all staying excitedly near the Athena Parthenos and he could feel the goddess looking their way from time to time. 

 “You sure you don’t want to go over there? I could uh… go with you.” He offered reluctantly; Athena wasn't a big fan of his even after he saved the world, he guessed a second time wouldn't really make that much of a difference. 

“No, just…no. I’ll be with her later. Right now let us just stay together for a moment more.” She said tightening her hold on his waist; they were leaning on the outside wall of his cabin. Percy understood her feelings, ever since Tartarus it was difficult not to be in touching distance of Annabeth; only duty managing to tear them apart, and even so it was hard to happen.

“I wonder were Poseidon went.” His father had gotten a look in his eyes some time ago and said he had something to take care of and would be back. Percy wondered if he had been ditched; the Olympians didn’t really have deep connections with their offspring. But he thought at least today his father would stay a while, even Hades – or Pluto, whatever, this was confusing – was spending time with Hazel and Nico; though Demeter would look their way not too happily.

“Percy!” The voice calling his name was enough to make him jump out of Annabeth’s embrace and look around for its owner. Sally Jackson ran towards them and while he started to go to her too he vaguely noticed Poseidon on the background.

“Mom.” He said breathlessly once they reached each other and she hugged him with all her might. It had been so long; even longer for her considering he spent months knowing nothing about himself while he was missing. Immediately the feel of her, her smell of sugar, chocolate and candy made him finally feel like he was home. 

“My son… my beautiful…oh Percy, I worried so much. Look at you all. What happened? Your father didn’t really explain.” She let him go a little and looked between him, Annabeth and his father who had finally rejoined them.

“A war. But we are fine now; we’ll talk about it later. How are you? How is Paul?” 

“I’m fine, Paul is fine. He would have come too but your father is breaking enough rules just by bringing me here.” And with that Percy didn’t think his affection for his estranged father could get any bigger. The man – god – went out of his way just to reunite him with his mother. 

“Come with me, mom. I want you to meet my new friends.” He knew the other seven would love his mother, everyone did. He had a feeling she would be specially taken with Leo, that is, if the boy stopped paying attention to Calypso for a second to meet his mother.

“I will love to. Is Nico around?” Sally asked and it made him stop dead in his tracks. 

“Nico? Yeah… why do you ask?” He was still on strange terms with Nico since Greece. The son of Hades seemed to only be around him if strictly necessary and Percy had to admit it kind of hurt; especially seeing that the younger boy seemed to be getting along fine with Jason. Well, as fine as Nico ever got along with anyone. 

“Well, he was just such a good help while you were missing. He would come around some times and assure me you weren’t…dead. He said he’d know if you were.” 

“You never told me this.” Annabeth said quietly and Percy almost jumped; it must have been the first time in a long while that he wasn’t aware that she was near him. 

“Oh, Annabeth. Nico only started showing around after you were so busy with that boat you were building. And then when he finally found Percy on that other Camp in California I was so relieved.”

“Nico never told us that, he never told anyone.” Annabeth said while gripping his hand tightly.

“Oh no… I forgot he asked me not to tell. He told me his father made him promise not to intervene but that he couldn’t not tell me. I guess now it doesn’t really matter. Percy… are you okay?”

Percy was vaguely aware of his mother talking to him and of Annabeth and his father looking at him worriedly but he couldn’t focus on any of that. His mind was reeling on the thought of how much he didn’t understand Nico di Angelo.

“Percy… Percy! Where are we going?” He hadn’t even realized he was walking, and dragging Annabeth with him, but he knew perfectly well he needed to find Nico and understand just what went on that boy’s head.

 

# Piper

 

 

Piper would be lying if she said that Aphrodite was her first choice out of the gods to be her mother. Especially being together with her and all her offspring while watching the goddess appearance change constantly to appease each person’s views of beauty. When she looked at Piper she became the most simple of all with no make up, jeans and a tank top. She still looked stunning tough. 

Aphrodite herself seemed not to care about her flickering appearance – or roman persona, since she really didn’t change much being Venus – and looked like she was enjoying having ‘a warrior daughter for once’ like she said. Piper could feel how Drew was just _loving_ all the attention she was getting. 

“My little black sheep. A beautiful fierce black sheep proving that love is just as powerful as anything else.” She seemed to enjoy saying that while they were around Ares, who would ignore her and try to get Clarisse and Frank to ‘bond’; something that didn’t seem very likely as the only thing they seemed to have in common was being their father’s favorite child. 

Looking around, Piper marveled at all the cabins with their representative gods and children near them; the romans seemed truly bewildered by all of it. She especially liked to look at cabin number one and see how Jason preened at his father’s attention. 

Jason who was now looking worriedly at somewhere else while Zeus talked to Thalia. Wondering what could make her boyfriend look that way she turned to see Percy dragging Annabeth towards the Hades cabin where Hazel and Nico were with their father.

“Oh, this ought to be interesting.” Aphrodite’s voice right next to her made her start; the goddess was looking at the same scene as Piper with a faintly amused and at the same time sad look on her face. “Let’s go, I think we will be needed there. You guys stay here; this is going to be private.” She said over her shoulder to her other children; Drew looked even less please if it were possible.

“If it’s going to be private shouldn’t we stay out of it?” Piper asked while they made their way to cabin thirteen. Jason also made his way there, she noticed.

“You need to learn how to use your more subtle gifts, Piper. They are just as important and other people need them too.” Was all her mother said when they finally stopped. Piper looked at the scene that had already started in front of her. Percy had a stubbornly angry look while looking at Nico, who seemed paler than Piper had ever seen him; she didn’t think it was possible. Annabeth, Hazel and Jason, who had just come to a stop next to Percy, looked nervously between the two demigods. Hades seemed oddly restrained from the scene.

“I don’t understand what you are asking.” It seemed physically painful for Nico to speak and he refused to look at anyone, though Piper was sure he glanced nervously at Jason once.

“I don’t understand _you_!” Percy said in a barely restrained shout, next to him Annabeth murmured something and Jason seemed ready to strike in case things got out of hand. “No, I won’t calm down Annabeth. I want to understand this guy. At first I got it… okay, you blamed me for Bianca, I understood that, but then you didn’t anymore. And then out of nowhere you offer to make me invincible, sells me out to the king of the underworld only to release me after and manage to convince your father to help in the war. I thought we were cool after that… but then you go and… you told Bob I was a friend, that he should help me even though I really wasn’t all that great to either of you. You kept an impossible promise I made you make to take everyone to the Doors of Death. I try to say thanks and make it up to you but you brush me aside and now… my mother tells me that you visited her, a lot. That you made sure she knew I was alive and… and when you and I met at Camp Jupiter you told her even though you didn’t tell anyone else, you didn’t even acknowledge we knew each other when I asked! I just… why would you…” 

“Percy, lay off…”  Jason said reaching for the son of Poseidon but his eyes were fixed on Nico in that concerned way he did after they left Croatia and suddenly she saw, she understood. For a brief moment Piper thought that for a daughter of Aphrodite she really didn’t have a clue about people’s love lives. 

It wasn’t Annabeth, it wasn’t Annabeth at all. Piper felt stupid for ever thinking it was Annabeth, but she didn’t really have the whole picture. It was easy to assume it was Annabeth, the daughter of Athena sure seemed to gather the admiration of everyone she encountered; she was smart, kind, pretty and very good at battling. It made sense to have a crush on her.

But it was Percy, Percy Jackson; and that made even more sense. One couldn’t look at Percy and ignore the pull he had on people, the power the son of the sea had. And now with all the information she had on Nico and all he done for Percy… she understood, even if the older boy didn’t seem to catch up yet. Next to her Aphrodite seemed to glance at her approvingly; like figuring it out was some kind of test.

“No, Jason. I just… Nico, why? I just want to understand why you would go to such lengths for someone you seem to hate.”  Percy seemed hurt by the notion but the look on Nico’s face was what made Piper’s heart ache. The son of Hades seemed completely devastated by the assumption. 

“Hate…hate you? You think that I hate you?”

“Don’t you?” 

“You really don’t understand a thing.” Nico let out the saddest laugh Piper ever heard, bordering on hysterical. “I don’t hate you at all.” He continues quietly, almost a whisper.

“Oh…” Annabeth said going slack next to her boyfriend and Piper knows that the girl now too understands. Nico’s panicked glance at the girl says that he also knows she knows. The darkness of the Hades cabin behind him seems to thicken and Piper realizes in a frantic moment that Nico is getting ready to shadow travel out of there.

_“You need to learn how to use your more subtle gifts, Piper. They are just as important and other people need them too.”_ Her mother had said, and she thinks she understands now why the goddess wanted them to be present for this. 

“Nico, _stay._ ” She tries to sound as calm as she can and to make her charmspeak powerful; she knew that if Nico was hell bent on leaving she couldn’t do much about it as he was a very powerful demigod. The boy however stood still with one of his feet behind him as he was getting ready to go into the shadows. Everyone turns to look her way, only realizing she was with them now. 

“Come inside with me, Jason and Hazel and let’s talk this through. It will be fine.” Piper wondered if it would work and noticed to grateful looks Jason and Hazel sent her. She still didn’t understand the role her boyfriend played in all this but she could see Hazel was getting truly worried for her brother. She could see Nico start to relent when Percy just had to come forth and say something.

“Wait a second, I still…”  
  
“Percy Jackson, you are to stay here and not try to overhear while we go inside and talk. When it’s time we’ll come and get you, understood?” Aphrodite says in a pleasant tone veiled with steel; her charmspeak being the strongest of all. 

“Yes, I’ll stay.” 

“You too, Annabeth Chase.” 

“I… yes, of course.” The daughter of Athena agreed reluctantly.

“Shall the six of us go inside then?” The goddess is already making her way to the cabin and gesturing to Nico to enter when Piper notices she that she said ‘six’ and Hades was entering the cabin too. As if this conversation wasn’t going to be tense enough without the king of the Underworld too. 

The Hades cabin was exactly how Piper expected it to be; dark and dreary. It didn’t really help when Hades made a motion with his hand and the torches lightened up with the same greek fire that adorned the ones outside of it. She did wonder how it managed not to smell like disused homes usually did; not that the smell of death and earth were much better. 

Nico was in the middle of the room and looking down at his hands, which were shaking worse than after they rescued him from that jar. Jason was making his way closer to the other boy slowly, like one would a wounded animal. 

“Stop trying to shadow travel, I’m not letting you.” Hades voice made Piper feel like a million pins were hitting her skin but it was the look of pure hatred that Nico sent his father that made her hold her breath. She couldn’t imagine ever doing such a thing; it made her reconsider a lot about the younger boy’s behavior to know that this was his father and he was able to stand up for himself against him.

“Nico, please. You can’t run from this forever, let’s talk.” Nico’s glare turned to Jason who had come to stand in front of the other boy.

“You said it was my choice. You said that you wouldn’t tell the others.” His voice sounded small and betrayed while he glanced at Piper. Jason seemed to panic for a second when he caught the other boy’s meaning. 

“I didn’t, Nico. I promise you I didn’t tell anyone.” 

“He didn’t, Nico. I just figured it out, I swear. I just thought it would be good for you, for everyone, if we talked this out.”  Nico looked at her and started shaking, actually shaking. It was a good thing Jason was so near then that he caught the son of Hades when it seemed his legs couldn’t support him anymore. 

“Nico!” Hazel came forth and helped support her brother while Jason sat the younger boy on the bed. Hazel sat next to him and held his hand carefully while Nico tensed and continued shaking for a while until he simply stopped and almost slumped into Jason who hovered behind him; the fight seemingly going out of him.

“Nico, please talk to us. Help us understand, we want to help. Let us be your friends.” Piper knelt in front of Nico and surprised herself of how much she meant what she was saying. Nico freaked her out at first, he did everybody, but now she could see it was a front. He was protecting himself by not letting anyone near, not even Hazel who he seemed to care for. He needed friends, people who he could count on and trust. They all had been through so much together it hurt to think Nico couldn’t consider them to come to. 

“You can’t understand. You don’t know what it is like to be… to be…” Nico closed his eyes forcefully and stayed there refusing to look at anyone. 

“I… well…” Piper was at loss of words. He was right, how could she understand what he was going through? Nico was from another time period. WWII Europe, people were killed for being who he was. Not to mention being a child of Hades wasn’t really a positive attribute. 

“Nico, have some faith in Piper. She is one of my children after all.” 

“Right, because the meeting with Cupid was such a great experience.” Piper was surprised that the bitter comment came from Jason even if it shed some light to why the son of Jupiter knew more then he let on. 

“Right, Eros. I apologize for him. He is so very intense about things. The outcome of being a child of love and war I’m afraid. Piper, let me take over from here.” Aphrodite took her place kneeling in front of Nico and for a moment the sight of a goddess kneeling was enough to make Piper think she was hallucinating. 

Once she came to her senses she stood next to Hazel and wondered just how her mother was planning on working through Nico di Angelo.

 

 

# Nico

 

 

The thing about Nico wasn’t that he didn’t like being touched, that was a lie. He craved for contact actually, so naturally he flinched from it; not daring to have anything he actually wanted. Want was a very dangerous thing.

Hazel’s hand in his felt great, comforting, like the awareness that the warmth he could feel on his back was from how close Jason was. He let himself revel in those for now; he thought it was only fair since he felt on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“Nico, look at me.” He didn’t want to but knew he wouldn’t be able to resist Aphrodite’s charmspeak. Opening his eyes and looking at the goddess proved to be a mistake a second too soon when her appearance morphed into a pretty olive skinned girl with dark hair and eyes like his. Bianca, she was taking aspects of his sister’s appearance. He couldn’t look at it, he wouldn’t. He closed his eyes again and scooted away from the vision making him bump into Jason, which was just as well since he started shaking again.

“Nico, what’s… Oh gods.” Jason’s hands come to rest on his shoulders and he knows the other boy understands what’s affecting him so much. Jason saw the vision of his younger self with his sister when they were in Croatia; he knew how Bianca had looked like.

“Aphrodite.” His father’s voice cuts like a knife, he had almost forgotten he was there. But there was no mistaking the warning in that tone.

"Nico, is ok. Please look at me." Aphrodite pleaded, sounding constricted – and wasn’t that a novelty coming from an Olympian - but Nico couldn't look at the face that was once his sister's.

"No...no...no..."

"Nico, she changed. It's fine, you can look." Jason assured him gripping his shoulders tightly. With a last shudder Nico looks up again at the goddess to see she had morphed back into a nondescript but beautiful woman, with no make up and jeans. 

"I'm truly sorry for that, Nico. I don't really notice the appearances I take. I didn't think you would look at me and see... Bianca was a beautiful girl." She finishes simply and he notices the small gasp Hazel lets out; he never talks much about Bianca to anybody, to have a visual aid must be astonishing. 

“Yeah... She was." The past tense still hurt.   
  
"It tells a great deal about you that your concept of beauty is of the one person you loved unconditionally. It’s very uncommon for me to take the whole appearance of someone else. Let’s start with that, talk to us about Bianca.” What was this, therapy section? No thanks.

“No, I don’t… Bianca is not…” Hazel other and came to cradle the one she was already holding. Startled he looks into his sister’s golden eyes that were gazing at him full of compassion; if it was anyone else the ground would already be cracking – not that he could actually do it with Hades blocking his powers – but Hazel’s gaze only made him disinflate more.  

“Nico, tell me about Bianca. You never really told me anything about her. Let me know our sister too.” And that was it, the way she said it. What Hazel said _‘our sister’,_ he never considered it too much how Hazel could have met Bianca if things were different (never mind the fact Hazel was only back in the upper world because Bianca had died, details). They would have loved each other.

“Bianca was… She always took care of me, that’s something I always remember even if I don’t have any recollection before the Lotus Hotel.” The corner his father stood seemed to darken, Hades could brood all he wanted; Nico wasn’t going to walk on eggshells for him. “And then we were alone there for what it felt like a month – even though it wasn’t. She never let me stay too much gaming, always made sure I eat right and went to bed early. You guys never went to the Lotus – and please never do – but that pretty much went against everything it stood for; being a place for indulgence and all. After that we were taken to Westover Hall by that _lawyer;_ it was a military academy. Needless to say we didn’t really fit in there, being from another time frame and all, but I had it worse than Bianca. No one really talked to me and she always took her time to go and be with me and try to cheer me up; she was the one who got me into Mythomagic since she saw the other kids playing it. It worked for a while, I even started playing with some of the other kids before the whole manticore thing happened and Percy brought us here. And then… I know it must have been bothersome for her too always have to look after me. She joined the Hunters of Artemis after she knew I’d be good in a camp for people like us; and for a while I was. But then Percy came back from the quest and Bianca … she wasn’t with them. She… because of a figurine … she went to get me a damn figurine for that stupid game. A damn… _Hades_ … action figure that I didn’t….” He always enjoyed the irony in that, morbid as it was. Never be said the son of Hades didn’t like a good Greek tragedy. “You would have liked her. She'd love you.” He could picture the both of them smiling and telling him to eat his vegetables.

"She loved you, Nico."

"I know."

"I love you too." Nico started with that, not knowing how to react. Hazel was his sister, he knew she liked him well enough; more than most people anyway and that wasn't saying much. He never considered more than that but looking at her golden eyes she could see the feeling in them; not different from the look she gave Frank. That was more than he could ever hope to get.

"Hazel... I, you..." And he couldn't continue even if he wanted to since she threw her arms around him; which was kind of awkward with Jason's hands still on his shoulder but the son of Jupiter seemed adamant on keeping his hold on him as if afraid he would vanish if he let go.

"I should have said so before." Hazel's voice sounded constricted; like she blamed herself for him not knowing she loved him.

"No Hazel... It's ... I love you." His voice sounded disbelieving even to his ears; like he never considered saying those words. The way Hazel's arms around him tightened he guessed she believed him well enough. He meant it.

"The love of family is the most primordial one. It always makes me immensely pleased to see it." Aphrodite went on saying, Nico had almost forgotten about her. “You know Nico, Hazel. For as different as Hades and I are, I always thought that in aspects of love he was the one of my siblings who honestly knew how to love. Even if he has a peculiar way of showing it."

"Aphrodite ..." Nico thought that the sound of his father actually sounding embarrassed was almost worth all of this.

"Oh shush, I'm telling your children what a big softie you are." The goddess said with a laugh and right then she earned Nico's respect by sheer boldness. Well, she was the oldest Olympian, it must have perks like telling the Underworld king to shut up and call him a softie. “Dear brother here is a true marvel you know. He is very just and has a great sense of duty. He was the only one not to break the pact, not even in his roman form. It was very rare for him to have mortal children even then. Only when he found truly remarkable women would he sire children. And what a remarkable lot you always are. Very intense in any feelings you have."

"Er..." He didn't really know what to say to that, Hazel didn't look any better. Probably thinking of her mother, from what he heard she wasn't a good kind of remarkable. He wished he knew more about his. But if the way his father was adamant on him not seeing her ghost and the fact he had two children with her didn't make the notion Hades had loved Maria di Angelo too farfetched.

“Holding grudges, children of Hades fatal flaw. You know why you hold grudges so easily?” She spoke without waiting for an answer. “Intense feelings, you hold on to them. Mainly bad ones but them again… When you guys love you _love._ ” The goddess looked approvingly between him, Hazel and Hades. It was a strange feeling being looked like that, like Aphrodite was truly giving them a compliment. “Now, let’s talk about that.”

“About what exactly?”

“Chill out little demigod. I don’t want to talk about Percy Jackson. I think everyone in here already knows pretty much what the deal is with that.”

“Fa-Father?”  

“We are gods Nico, you seem to forget that. There isn’t much that passes us by.” His mind reeled with that. His father knew about his… that he was… and he never mentioned anything? What did that mean?

“I means, Nico, that it doesn’t matter who you love.” The gods really had this horrible habit of seeming to read people’s minds.

“I… you… that’s not!” He didn’t know how but he could feel Jason was smug behind him, like the weight of the boy’s hands still on his shoulders was telling that the blond boy was suppressing a smile.

“We are greek Nico. We have a long history of becoming amorous with whomever we like independent of gender. Man, woman, nymph… horse.” Horse? What the…

_You are not funny Aphrodite._  Came the voice of the God of Sea and the demigods jumped at it. He thought for a delirious moment that his father actually snorted.

“Then stop eavesdropping, dear brother.”

“Are they…?” Panic started rising in him. Was everyone outside listening to all of this?

“No, just Poseidon - the gossip. Omniscience and all that.” She made a dismissive gesture with her hand and went on. “As I was saying. It’s not a big deal, not to the people who matter anyway. I’m not going to lie; there are a lot of people who are against it. But people are always against something or another. I want you to listen to what I’m going to say now, because is most important.” Aphrodite paused and he tensed together with the other demigods in the room. “Love is love.”

“…is that it?” Well, that was anticlimactic.

“Yes. It sounds simple because it is.”

“I don’t really know what I was expecting from this. You basically told me what Grace already did.”

“I’m not done.” She smiled at him like a teacher would a particular slow student.

“Okay…” 

“You have a great capability of love inside you Nico, and that is beautiful. But before you are able to truly love anyone like that you have to love yourself, which you don’t.”

“I…”

“You hate yourself Nico di Angelo. You have a warped view of yourself and that affects how people around you see you. People flinch from you and feel uncomfortable by your presence? Because that’s the way you want it to be, you are uncomfortable in your own skin.” He started shaking again, Hazel’s hand was on his arm but suddenly Jason’s hands finally left his shoulders. That was it, he finally drove wonder boy away. Not really a big … there was an arm across his shoulders now and the bed sunk as Jason came to sit right next to him. He was so startled almost didn’t catch what Aphrodite was saying. “No one is anything without the other Nico, not even a God. Let people inside this wall you built, let them help you. Let them love you and let you love yourself.”

“It’s…it’s very… I can’t…”

“It’s hard, I know. No one is expecting to become mister sunshine right away. Actually… don’t become mister sunshine at all, that would be beyond weird.” That actually brought a reluctant smile onto his lips and a chuckle out of the other demigods.

“Look, Nico. She’s right you know, and I meant what I said. I want to be your friend, let me be here for you.” He looked up at Jason’s face and there was that determinate honest expression on it; he wished he could hate the boy but it seemed impossible.

“Me too, I mean…” Piper fiddled with her hair, Nico had almost forgotten the girl was there. “I know I never really… I admit I treated you like everyone else did. But I can be a really good friend if you let me.” He never really gave the daughter of Aphrodite a second thought outside of the war. He nodded hesitantly, Hazel and Jason liked her, he supposed he could give her a shot.

“Oh, Nico.” Hazel came and hugged him again, making the last hour the most physical contact he had in the last four years.

“Well, here comes the hard part. You know what you have to do now right, Nico?” Aphrodite cast a look outside expectantly and dread started filling his gut.

“I have to talk to Percy.”

“Indeed you have. It won’t be so bad. Jackson is one of the better demigods we’ve had in a while. He’s understanding and full of morals and such, real great character that one.”

“I don’t really think you are helping.”  He said his voice deadpanned but the goddess just laughed.       

“I think I helped enough for one day.” She finally got up and looked down on them. “I told Percy Jackson once that I would meddle with his love life, and I truly did have fun while doing it, but I promise I’m not going to mess with your love life Nico di Angelo. It is going to be an interesting one, but you’ll be happy eventually. Even if…” She paused and cast a regretful look around the demigods before shaking her head a little. “Well, we should be going then. Come on dear brother, Dionysus promised a banquet. We better go see if he didn’t overdo himself like always.” She made her way out the door but Hades came their way and with a quick look to both Hazel and Jason he gently put his hand on top of Nico’s head before giving a small nod and going after his sister.

“Did… did that just happen?”

“The king of the Underworld apparently giving his son approval? I think so.” Jason sounded as stunned as he felt, but there was again that sense of smugness coming from him. “So, hn… do you want us to stay or…” Nico gave the other boy a quick look and then turned to look at the two girls. He didn’t really want to be alone with Percy but…

“It’s okay, Nico.” Hazel gave his hand a last squeeze and threw a look between him and Jason with a small wondering smile. “Come on Piper, let’s go get Percy.” She got up and hesitated a moment before leaning down and giving his forehead a kiss like he sometimes did to her. It meant more than he liked to admit.

After the girls were gone he was conscious of him beginning to have a panic attack. Jason’s arm still across his shoulder began to feel like a ton rather than comforting.

“Grace, could you er… let go of me?”

“Oh, sorry! You don’t like people touching you. I forgot.”

“No, I don’t really mind… I meant, it’s not…” Great, he was blushing. ‘Open up’ she said ‘It will be good’ she said. Right.

The son of Jupiter frowned confusedly at him for a moment before his eyes lightened up and he grinned down at the younger boy. He reached over and started messing with Nico’s hair.

“Hey! Stop that.”

“No can do man.” Jason was laughing and Nico was surprised that he was almost doing the same while trying to get out of the blond boy’s reach.

“Er…” And of course that was when Percy chose to walk in to the Hades cabin. Jason let go of him and they stood; the three of them looking awkwardly at each other. “Guys, I really confused. You go in here and spend this whole time talking about gods know what. Annabeth has that face when she figured something out but she refused to tell me anything and went to finally talk to her mother. Just… what is going on?”

This was it, the moment. They had just won a war against Gaea and Nico actually felt this would be harder than that. No backing out now though. Jason pat his arm once in a _‘You can do this’_ way. It actually helped.

“You asked me why I did all those things. Said it didn’t make any sense since you think… you think that I… hate you.” And how much of an idiot did he have to be to think that? Or maybe Nico really had taken the ‘I hate everything’ act too far. “It’s not that at all. I don’t hate you. I could never…”

“You don’t?”

“I actually…” This was it, come on Nico, you can do this. “The truth is… That I like you, Percy. Ever since… I mean, for a long time… I just… like you a lot. More than I probably should…” The last part was said in almost a whisper but with the way Jason slightly bumped their hands together the other boy heard him. Chancing a glance at the blond he saw him frowning down at him but decided not to dwell on it.

Looking back at Percy he saw the other demigod with a confused frown on his face. He could almost see the gears turning in that seaweed brain of his. Then his green eyes widened and a faint blush came to his face.

“Oh…” He said softly and his mouth stayed opened in astonishment, still looking with his wide eyes at Nico. Was that it? _“Oh”_ ?

“Look, Percy… I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have... Just… forget it. You probably h-hate now… I should just leave…” He should be able to shadow travel now that his father wasn’t messing with his powers.

“Oh, no you don’t!” He didn’t even take his feet of the ground before Jason was griping his shoulders and stopping him.

“Nico, please don’t… I’m just stunned. I never… why would I hate you?” Percy seemed honestly confused by that thought.

“Because… well I just… it’s not…” _Normal, common, freak._  Jason’s grip on his shoulder became stronger, as if he knew what Nico was thinking and disapproving.

“Nico… I’m honestly flattered you feel that way about me… I just, don’t really understand why. I mean! You’ve done so much for me and I never… I was hardly the friend I should have been to you and you still… Gods, I’m horrible at these kinds of things.”

“You are… flattered?” _Why?_ I didn’t make any sense

“It’s always good to know that someone cares about you, Nico. And you… I’m glad you do, truly. You honestly saved my life because of it and you made sure my mother… Thank you. I’m just… I’m sorry. You know I can’t reciprocate the feelings you have… and I just…”

“Percy, I never… I never meant for you to know.  I should have just… left after the war was over like I planned to.”

“You couldn’t have been serious about that!” Jason turned him over to stare at him, panic clear in his eyes. Nico knew then that the son of Jupiter understood what he meant when he said he would leave _forever._

“Jason…”

“No! Nico… You have to… let us in, please. Don’t…” Nico had considered, he truly had, and if things hadn’t gone the way they did today he couldn’t honestly say he wouldn’t have gone through with it.

“Jason, I’m not… going anywhere. But I still… don’t feel like I belong anywhere.” Camp Half-Blood? Camp Jupiter? Underworld? Nowhere at all? He felt more lost than ever but it was also the first time since Bianca that he felt like things were going to be okay.

“You belong with us.” Percy’s voice next to him made him start; he didn’t notice the other boy coming near them. “I don’t understand fully what happened in here before I came in but… Jason is right; let us in Nico. Just… you don’t have to isolate yourself from us. I was trying to tell you before that … even though I don’t really feel how you do I hope you can let me er… try and be your friend you know?”

“I’m just so… This is all so very hard.”

“I understand! And if you want space I totally… oh… that’s why you brushed me of when you left Greece. Gods, I’m an idiot.” Nico actually chuckled at that and the other two looked at him in surprise.

“Look, Percy… I think I’d like that; be friends.” Green eyes looked at him hopefully and his stomach clenched at the attention. “Some day. But right now I feel like I have to figure myself out first.” _Love yourself_ Aphrodite had said. It felt like such a self-help phrase but Nico had been close to doing something monumentally final because he didn’t.

“I get it, that’s good. But, please, if you need anything don’t feel like… like you can’t come to me… to us really about it. I don’t really understand what happened to make you two friends but Jason is a great guy. And Hazel, she’s your sister; she really cares about you too. The others are good too, but I understand if you don’t want too many people in after isolating yourself for so long. Just… know that we are here for you, okay?” The green eyes looked at him with such honesty that Nico felt overwhelmed. He loved how Percy was usually crap at talking but when he really meant something practically nothing could deter him from it.

“Thank you, Percy. I… that means a lot.” And it did.

Silence fell between them and Nico just closed his eyes to revel in it. What he was most afraid of had happened and he actually felt good about it, even if he felt emotionally drained for the rest of the century. Everything could work out.

“Sooo… lets go? Hazel is probably fretting over you outside.” Jason said slipping his arm around his shoulders again and stirring him towards the door. Percy looked at them both with a smile and followed.

 “Let go of me, Grace.” He said without heat while ducking from the older boy’s arms. Really, the son of Jupiter was getting too comfortable touching him.

“What happened to ‘Jason’?”

“‘Jason’ is getting too comfortable. Maybe ‘Grace’ has a better sense of personal space.” Percy was shaking next to them with restrained laughter while they stepped outside and Jason looked at him in mock consideration before he grinned down at him.

“No. Sorry, both of them are in agreement here.” He went to mess with his hair again and Nico let out a disgruntled noise; Percy was outright laughing now. Ahead of them he could see Hazel smiling brightly at them and Piper standing next to her.

There was an explosion on the area where the celebration would be and he could faintly hear Leo’s and the Stoll brothers’ voices excitedly coming from there. His lips tugged upwards and something inside him felt like it was starting to unwind.

_Yeah_ , he thought while Hazel winded their arms together and starting walking them towards the feast. _Things would be fine._

**Author's Note:**

> I'm strangely happy with this.  
> Even if I don't think I wrote Jason right and the end came out kind of redundant and cliché (I honestly don't really care much)
> 
> I had a great amount of fun writing Aphrodite, I don't know if it's noticeable. 
> 
> I do plan on continuing this and going to the Jasico road (I kind of think is obvious but idk). If you don't like that please only read this first part.


End file.
